The present invention relates generally to sorting equipment for flat articles. More particularly it relates to the apparatus for sorting mailpieces and envelopes into a sorting bin or stacking module that is located at the output side of an inserting machine. The invention is directed to providing a mechanism that insures the letter mail or mailpieces are properly aligned against the sorter bin pressure plate.
Throughout the history of mail delivery, there has been a gradual evolution whereby the post office and posts encourage mailers to prepare their mail for efficient operation. This means there should be less effort required on the part of the posts or the post offices for processing such mail. An incentive for doing this meant that mailers have to provide faster mail delivery through the use of postal discounts that are available to the mailers. The level of discount typically is based on the number of criteria met by the mailer. For example, in order to maximize such postage discounts, the post office requires that high volume mailers presort the mailpieces, apply a Zip+4 bar code to each mailpiece, and package their mail into postal trays.
Previously, large volume mailers have performed the sorting process on sorting equipment that is set up to process and sort the mail. However the traying process within that equipment is still performed manually. Smaller volume mailers may perform both the sorting and traying processes manually. Clearly such manual traying is not efficient for large volume mailers. As described in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,249 to Belec et al., this drawback was overcome by the direct interface of a multi-bin-sorting device with an inserter system. This inserter system performs automated sorting of mailpieces in accordance with predetermined postal discount requirements. Essentially, the system consists of an inserter for assembling the mailpieces and a sorter coupled to the inserter for automatically sorting and traying the mailpieces. The sorter includes a sorter controller and a plurality of on-edge sorting bins. The system also includes means for communicating mailpiece data and configuration data to the sorter controller. The sorter controller controls the sorting of mailpieces received from the inserter into sort groups according to postal discount requirements.
Occasionally, there are envelope jamming issues in sortation devices and one way to solve this is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,718,660 to Daboub. In order to help overcome these jamming issues, an anti-jamming mechanism may be employed, such as an anti-jamming kicker. The kicker gate, when actuated, aligns with the actuated gate of a tray to allow smooth entry of a mailpiece from a transport of the inserter system into a tray of the sorting device. Upon de-actuation, the kicker gate returns to its original position thereby xe2x80x9ckickingxe2x80x9d the tail of the mailpiece inwardly into the tray and away from the entry area of the tray. Such a kicker-gate mechanism is described in the aforementioned Daboub patent. But, even though such kicker gate devices have been utilized in the prior art, those kinds of devices have some deficiencies. For example, an occasional drawback is seen wherein the kicking gate device will damaged a mailpiece through its xe2x80x9ckickingxe2x80x9d action against a mailpiece. Additionally, this anti-jamming mechanism is complex and expensive to implement because it requires an exact timing scheme for actuation of the kicker gate.
Therefore the present invention was conceived in order to provide a sorting device that can be implemented at the output end on an inserting system without suffering from any of the aforementioned drawbacks. The present invention includes a simplified mechanism for preventing jamming of mailpieces that are conveyed into individual sorting bins of the sorting device. The present invention is deemed to be pertinent to the problem of stacking mailpieces of all thickness"" that are normally processed in an inserting machine. The device described herein provides a way to insure that thin and thick mailpieces are satisfactorily transferred into the stacking bin without jamming or otherwise damaging them.
The present invention relates to a sorting apparatus for sorting mailpieces into at least one stacking compartments. The sorter has a transport apparatus that conveys the mailpieces along a transport path in the sorter, and a gating mechanism that selectively operates in two modes. The first mode diverts a mailpiece to a first stacking compartment, and a second mode that permits additional mailpieces to continue along the transport path towards other stacking compartments. The apparatus includes a transport frame having a series of structural guide members located between each stacking compartment. There is a driving nip located in the input side of the stacking compartment formed between a driven roller and an idler roller. There is a stacking assembly included with a mailpiece registration wall and a stack of at least two pressure elements (other wise known as xe2x80x9ckicker element fingers or kicker fingersxe2x80x9d) that are interposed with a segmented portion of the idler roller at the input side of the stacker. The kicker fingers are interfaced with the structural guide members in the transport track to avoid potential injury to the operator or damage to the kicker fingers themselves.